


Like Real People Do

by CoolestLemon



Series: At My Most Beautiful- A Stenbrough/Reddie Series [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Eddie doesn't believe it's a date, First Dates, Hot Eddie Kaspbrak, Insecure Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Soft Richie Tozier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-12-17 17:20:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21058115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolestLemon/pseuds/CoolestLemon
Summary: Just some cute one-shots over the course of Eddie and Richie's relationship through their college years.





	1. Freshman/Sophomore Years

FRESHMAN YEAR

Eddie Kaspbrak loved sex. He’d grown up in a tiny town in Maine where being gay just wasn’t a thing but that didn’t stop everyone in school referring to him constantly through derogatory terms. Eddie didn’t really care though, rolling his eyes at the names, knowing that some of the worst offenders were also some of the people blowing up his phone at the weekends, begging him for sex. He was seventeen and eighteen and he didn’t really care who he was sleeping with as long as it made him feel good and it usually made him feel good. When he’d got to college, the sex had just got better. He had a fake ID and could go out to the local bars and wait until someone chatted him up. He attracted a certain type of guy, being short and petite and he’d find them buying him drinks all night until he went back to their place and had mindless sex.

Eddie didn’t want a boyfriend. He’d never really even thought about having one until he’d seen his roommate and new best friend, Bill and his boyfriend, Stan be affectionate with each other in a way that would never have been accepted in Eddie’s hometown. It still didn’t make Eddie want to have a boyfriend but it did make him think about what kind of boyfriend he’d choose. He thought about Bill’s boyfriend and how Stanley Uris would probably be a great boyfriend, with his soft looks and neat style and the way he _always_ asks Bill how his day went. Not that Eddie had a crush on Stan or anything; he could just imagine how nice it would for someone to care enough to about him to ask him how his day went every single day. And Eddie also thought that Bill Denbrough would be a great boyfriend with his classic good looks and lean body and the way he absolutely worshipped the ground Stanley walked on. Eddie would quite like to be worshipped by someone. But the one time he’d walked in on his favourite couple having sex, it had seemed very vanilla with Stanley on his back and Bill holding his hands as he thrust in and out slowly, whispering gentle praise. If there was one thing that Eddie Kaspbrak was not, it was vanilla.

So, Eddie just continued having sex. Bill and Stanley would try and convince him to go on dates with some of their friends but Eddie didn’t want to. He didn’t _need_ a boyfriend when he could have sex every night with a different person. And Eddie went on plenty of dates, as in some of the guys he slept with took him on ‘dates’ before they had sex, almost as if they were pre-emptively apologising for kicking him out as soon as they were done. Dates to Eddie were getting drunk in seedy bars with some guy’s hand crawling further and further up his thigh before they left, or even just had sex in the bathroom if they couldn’t make it that far.

The night Eddie had met Richie Tozier changed everything. Bill had finally convinced him to go over to Stan’s dorm room and meet his roommate, Richie, a guy whom Eddie had heard plenty of stories about from Stanley. Eddie expected to hate this Richie guy on sight, with his shit jokes and apparent lack of personal hygiene. He hadn’t expected his heart to beat faster at the sight of this tall guy with the messiest black hair Eddie had ever seen. Richie was wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and black skinny jeans with rips in them, which would have been a perfectly reasonable outfit for his aesthetic if it wasn’t topped with a bright orange Hawaiian shirt. He definitely wasn’t Eddie’s type as Eddie tended to go for older guys, who clearly worked out and Richie looked like he’d never even seen the inside of a gym. That didn’t stop Eddie’s mouth from going dry every time that Richie looked in his direction. Eddie couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so obviously attracted to someone and he hated that it was this guy.

And Richie flirted with Eddie incessantly, touching his shoulder and sending him winks whenever he caught Eddie looking. It made Eddie squirm in his seat, looking at the way Richie was looking at him. But Eddie didn’t mind a challenge, so he looked right back at Richie. He scoffed at every bad joke that he made, rolling his eyes at every nickname that Richie threw his way. Eddie knew that he was being harsh to this guy but something told him that Richie loved it, even after Stanley had told him to loosen up a bit. Eddie quickly realised that he was having fun messing with this guy, fun that he didn’t think he’d had with a guy in a long time.

Bill was spending the night in Stan’s dorm so when it got late Eddie got up to walk the ten minutes back to his own building. He bid his friends goodnight and left, getting halfway down the corridor when he heard a shout from behind him.

“Wait.” Richie shouted, bounding down the corridor to reach him. Eddie stopped and waited, his arms across his chest and his eyes narrowed. Richie reminded him of a dog as he made his way towards him like a big black Labrador with his wide grin and floppy hair; if he was a dog, his tail would be wagging. It was kind of a sweet image.

“Yes?” Eddie said, once Richie was stood in front of him. Eddie kept his eyes narrowed, critically assessing the boy in front of him.

“I just wanted to-ugh- just will you go out for a drink with me sometime?” Richie asked, a look of pure hopefulness in his eyes. Eddie felt himself deflate slightly. He knew what going out for a drink meant from the kind of guy who was attracted to him and he felt sad that Richie was just another guy who looked at him and thought of fucking him. For a brief second there, he had almost imagined something more with this beanpole of a guy but no, of course, he only wanted to have sex.

“Probably not.” Eddie answered honestly. He saw the way Richie visibly deflated in front of him and felt a little bad, quickly changing his answer with an eye-roll. At least he’d get some sex out of it. “Fine, I’m free tomorrow night. There’s a place on 2nd Street that I like, Melodrama it’s called. Meet me there at 8.” Eddie said, turning around and walking away before he could clock Richie’s expression.

Eddie dressed the way he normally did for a hook-up- his skinniest jeans, the ones that had every person he passed staring at his ass and light pink jumper that made his skin looked even more tan than it normally did. He knew that he looked hot and that was what his hook-ups wanted so he played into that. He’d also let his hair dry naturally so the strands curled in little spirals that could almost rival Stanley’s. He walked into the bar with the confidence of knowing that at least half the people in this bar would find him suitably attractive, giving a few guys he recognised small smiles before spotting Richie sat at a table in the back. Richie had dressed up, more so than was reasonably appropriate for this kind of bar in a black button-down and a thin tie.

“Hey.” Richie said, grinning and standing up when he saw Eddie. He ran around the table to pull out the chair for Eddie. Eddie gave him a weird look but sat down in the chair.

“Hi, have you bought a drink yet?” Eddie said, his eyes already looking around for a server. It was Richie’s turn to give him a weird look.

“No, I wanted to see what you liked first.” Richie said gently, watching as Eddie’s attention was anywhere but on him.

Eddie hummed for a moment before speaking. “I’m thinking shots.” Eddie said, pursing his lips and final flagging down a waitress.

Richie stared at him, mouth slack. He had no idea what Eddie was doing and the guy had started to scare him.

The waitress appeared and Eddie ordered 4 tequila shots and Richie ordered a beer, still looking at his date in confusion. Who ordered shots on a first date? And on that note, why had Eddie suggested they had their date in this seedy bar? Richie felt so overdressed in comparison to the older men who sat around the bar, staring at Eddie like they wanted to eat him.

Soon, Eddie was really fucking drunk. So drunk that when Richie reaches out for Eddie’s hand across the table, he didn’t pull away. He actually kind of liked the way that Richie’s long fingers felt over his own tiny hand, stroking his thumb.

“You’re so beautiful.” Richie said in a low voice, staring directly into Eddie’s eyes.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Nah.”

Richie shook his head, his hair bouncing and making Eddie think again of how much he reminds Eddie of a puppy. “No, you are very beautiful, Eddie.”

“I’m hot, there’s a difference.” Eddie said with an edge in his voice. Richie thought for the first time that maybe no-one had ever told Eddie how beautiful he was and that made Richie sad; Eddie deserved to be worshipped.

Richie didn’t think it was a bad date. It was definitely one of the weirder ones he’d been on but talking to Eddie, finding out more about him had just made Richie more desperate to find out more about him.

“So, where do you want to do this?” Eddie said, removing his hand from Richie’s. He immediately missed the warm feeling and gentle way Richie had caressed his palm.

Richie was so confused, tilting his head to look at his date. “Do what?”

Eddie rolled his eyes again. “Where do you want to fuck me? I think Bill and Stan are in my dorm tonight so we could do your bed? Or, I’m always up for a bathroom stall, if you like the risk of being caught?”

Richie’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh, you want to do something weird, don’t you?” Eddie said, examining his face.

Richie finally spoke. “I’m sorry, I really have no idea what’s going on.”

“You asked me for a drink and we’ve been drinking for hours so now you want to have sex with me, right?” Eddie said, looking right at him.

Richie shook his head quickly. “No.” He said, his eyes really wide.

“You don’t want to have sex with me?” Eddie said, sounding surprised.

Richie shook his head again. “I do want to have sex with you; I just don’t want to have sex with you right now. I asked you on a date because I wanted to get to know you better and because I really like you.”

Eddie’s expression softened. “You really like me?” He said quietly like he was afraid that Richie would take it back.

Richie reached out and grabbed his hand again, stroking gentle circles into the soft flesh of his palm. He’d hold Eddie’s hand forever, loving the way it fit so easily into his own hand. Richie could sense how fragile Eddie was and it made his heart hurt, thinking about how he just expected to be used for sex and not treated with the care he deserved. Richie wanted to show Eddie just how beautiful he really was but with gentleness and care, not just with sex. He wanted to break down the other boy’s walls and get to know the real Eddie.

“I really do.” Richie said with a little sigh when he noticed the smile on Eddie’s face. “Can I take you on another date? A real one that’s not in a place like this.” He looked around at the men, who were still sneaking glances at Eddie.

Eddie nodded, the smile still on his face. “We could go ice skating? I always thought if I ever went on a date then I’d want to do something really fun.”

Richie smiled back and nodded in reply, thinking about watching Eddie skate around him, while he fell everywhere on his unsteady legs. It sounded like the kind of date people would go on in a movie.

Two days later, Richie took Eddie ice skating. Eddie wore his comfiest pair of overalls and his favourite hat and scarf combo, looking like the cutest thing Richie had ever seen in a completely different way than he had on their first date. They laughed and fell over together, holding hands and stealing little kisses on cold noses and lips. It was too early to be spoken but both boys secretly always thought that they fell in love on that ice rink.

SOPHOMORE YEAR

Richie and Eddie didn’t have any classes together, Richie studying Theatre and Film and Eddie studying pre-med so they kept in touch on busy days by texting. Richie sent a lot of texts to Eddie throughout the day, little notes to tell him that he loved him or pictures of things he’d found interesting or funny memes or just random thoughts that popped into his head. Eddie often told him off for sending so many but he secretly loved how every time he turned on his phone, he knew that he would have texts from his boyfriend to open. It turned out that Eddie loved having a boyfriend a lot more than he expected.

Richie Tozier was the _perfect_ boyfriend to Eddie, despite what people thought when they saw the two of them together on campus and wondered what cute little Eddie Kaspbrak was doing with fashion disaster Richie Tozier. That didn’t matter to Eddie. Richie worshipped the ground he walked on, constantly telling him how awed he was by him, which just made Eddie’s heart melt. Richie made Eddie feel more wanted in one sentence than all of Eddie’s previous hook-ups combined did. And that wasn’t to say that they had a boring sex life. Eddie and Richie had _great _sex, pushing each other to try new things in the safe space of each other’s arms. Eddie had everything he’d ever wanted in Richie and he was _never_ going to let him go, something he could say confidently since he knew that Richie adored him and would therefore never leave him either.

So, when Eddie woke up two weeks after their one-year anniversary to no texts from Richie, he was shocked. Richie had always struggled with sleep, always rising early to go for a walk before class to clear his head. It was early on their third date that Richie had told him that he struggled with ADHD, never able to sit still properly and that’s why he was unable to go watch a movie with Eddie. Eddie had understood completely, squeezing Richie’s hand to show that he was there for him.

Eddie wasn’t a child so he texted Richie first for once, just wishing him a good morning and hoped that his early class went well. When he still hadn’t had a reply by the time, he’d had a shower and got dressed, he started to feel a bit worried. Richie was a quick replier, saying he always felt guilty when he saw a text and didn’t reply straight away, which meant that Richie mustn’t have seen his text yet.

“Billy.” Eddie said, poking his sleeping friend.

Bill rolled over, pulling his duvet over his head. Eddie repeated his action until Bill sat up, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

“What is so important?” Bill said, rubbing his eyes and grumbling at Eddie. Eddie rolled his eyes, Bill could be so dramatic sometimes; he didn’t know how Stanley put up with him. Actually, that was a lie, Richie could be way more dramatic than Bill and Eddie loved it because he loved everything about Richie.

“Richie hasn’t texted me back.” Eddie said with a pout. He knew it sounded stupid but it was a genuine worry. Richie _always_ texted him back.

“Oh wow, file a missing persons case, Richie Tozier hasn’t answered his precious Eddie Spaghetti’s texts, he must be dead in a ditch somewhere.” Bill rolled his eyes right back, looking like he was about to go back to sleep.

Eddie glared at Bill. “Don’t joke about something like that, Bill. Will you text Stanley and ask if he’s there?”

Bill rolled his eyes again but grabbed his phone off the bedside cabinet and dialling Stan’s number. “I needed to ask him a question about training tonight anyway.” Bill mumbled in Eddie’s direction while the phone rang. Eventually, Stan must have answered since Bill started talking.

“Hey, baby.” Bill said, grinning the way he always did when he was talking to Stanley. He listened and hummed at something Stan said and then spoke again. “Yeah, I was scared of that too.” He nodded along for a while. “Yeah, we’ll grab some dinner at like 5.”

Eddie stared at Bill, waiting for him to mention Richie but Bill just smiled at him and held up a finger, laughing at something Stanley said.

“Okay, Eddie is staring me out over here. Is Richie in bed because he hasn’t texted Eddie today and the kid’s about to have a full blown panic attack over it?” Bill said, laughing again while Eddie flipped him off.

Bill gasped. “He brought another guy home?”

Eddie felt his heard drop to his stomach but pushed the feeling away. Richie would _never_ cheat on him because not only did he love him but he was also terrified of Eddie. Bill must just be messing with him.

Bill ended the call and placed his phone on the cabinet before turning back to Eddie with an amused expression. “He’s sick in bed. Can’t reach his phone but Stanley’s going to give it to him so you two can text because you clearly must be in contact at all times.”

Richie did indeed reply to Eddie’s text almost straight away and they got into a quick back and forth but Eddie still felt worried, he’d never seen Richie sick but he’d seen the way he treated other minor ailments like the fact that he was always injuring himself and had never even seemed to hear of antiseptic until Eddie had shown him how to use it. Now, he carried about a bottle especially for Richie, knowing that sooner rather than later he was going to have to use it.

Eddie went to his early Anatomy class but he could barely concentrate, thinking instead about how much pain Richie must be in and whether he’d had any medicine yet. Knowing his boyfriend, he presumed that he hadn’t so Eddie decided to skip the rest of the day and go and look after Richie. He stopped off at the pharmacy on campus first, stocking up on all the cold and flu stuff he could find, especially tissues before walking over to Richie and Stan’s dorm room. He knocked on the door with his head as he was holding too much stuff to have a free hand and hoped that Stanley was in so he wasn’t forcing Richie out of bed just to let him in.

Luckily, Stan opened the door quickly and Eddie tumbled into the room, throwing his supplies on to Richie’s mostly unused desk.

“Thank God, he’s been whining all day and I’ve been trying to work.” Stanley said, pushing his feet into some trainers and grabbing his backpack off the desk. “I’m going to go work in your dorm.” And with that he left the room, leaving Eddie and Richie alone.

“Baby.” Richie cried weakly from beneath a mound of a duvet.

Eddie rushed over, placing his cold hands on Richie’s warm forehead. “Jesus, Rich, you’re burning up.”

Richie shifted under his touch, a little smile growing on his face. “I’m all better now.” He grabbed Eddie’s hand and moved it to his mouth so he could kiss it. It was so _soft_ and Eddie’s heart fluttered. It was embarrassing how much he loved Richie.

“I’m going to grab some medicine and then I’m going to come to snuggle you, okay?” Eddie said softly, taking back his hand so he could run it through Richie’s sweat-damp hair.

Eddie stuck to his word, forcing Richie to take some tablets and drink some orange juice. Then he cleared everything away and slowly rubbed some vapour rub onto Richie’s chest so that he would be able to breathe if he wanted to fall asleep. Finally, Eddie removed his jeans and crawled behind Richie into bed, spooning his boyfriend. They stayed there for the rest of the day, Eddie holding Richie tightly, planting gentle kisses against his back while he slept. Eddie and Richie both felt like the luckiest guys in the world to have each other.


	2. Junior/Senior Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other half

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not particularly good but I wrote it over a week ago and I don't have time to do any big changes to it because I need to write the next one.  
Please leave comments or kudos if you like it!

JUNIOR YEAR

Eddie and Richie didn’t fight like Bill and Stanley did. Bill and Stan saved up all their little fights until it became one giant argument that would end up with them ignoring each other for a while. Eddie and Richie fought _constantly. _Especially since they moved in together, Eddie would bitch at Richie for every single item that he didn’t put down in exactly the right space and every plate that was left unwashed in the sink and every time he didn’t let his bath water go the second that he had got out. At first, Richie had thought that moving in together had been a mistake and that this new closeness was going to ruin their relationship but he quickly realised that Eddie didn’t really get mad at him, that was just the way he acted and he didn’t mean to hurt Richie’s feelings by it. They created a new system where every time Eddie got snappy, Richie would ask him to rephrase what he wanted to say in a nicer way and after a couple of months, they lived together in more or less harmony.

That, however, didn’t mean that they didn’t fight. They still fought over the stupidest things but they also resolved them quickly, always ending up in bed together the very same night. The biggest exception was the fight they had just before leaving for Winter Break, their second year together.

“Hey, Rich, have you packed yet?” Eddie said, poking his head into the steamy bathroom where his boyfriend was having a shower.

“Yeah.” Richie called back.

Eddie turned around and saw Richie’s open suitcase on the bed. They’d already exchanged presents the day before and Eddie had been thrilled to receive the cutest necklace from his boyfriend. It was a thin silver chain with the daintiest little heart at the end of it that sat right over Eddie’s real heart. He’d cried when Richie had clasped it around his neck, feeling the cool metal and the warmth of Richie’s fingers on his skin. Richie had said that it represented his own heart and how it was now Eddie’s, Eddie had cried harder at that. Eddie had given Richie a present that was a similar theme: a leather corded bracelet that fit perfectly into his style and on the inside, over Richie’s wrist, the letters E+R were scored in. Richie had cried too and they both laughed at how soppy they were. Eddie could not believe the person he’d become since being with Richie but he liked himself a whole lot more now.

While they’d already given their main presents, Eddie had bought another little gift for Richie to send home with him so he’d have something to open from his boyfriend on Christmas Day. It was just a biography of one of his favourite comedians but Eddie liked knowing that it would make him smile while he was so far away from Eddie.

So, Eddie decided to put his present near the bottom of Richie’s suitcase so that he wouldn’t notice it straight away. The top of Richie’s suitcase was filled with the presents that he was taking home to give to his family and Eddie smiled as he rummaged through them to find a place to put his own. Eddie had helped wrap Richie’s presents since the boy was completely inept at stuff like that and each one had a small label on the front with the recipients name: there was one for Mom and Dad and his sister, Emma. Eddie was just about to place his own present in the case when he noticed another present, wrapped in a way that made it clear that Eddie didn’t help. He squinted at the label: _Jack._ Eddie’s heart sank.

Ten minutes later, Richie left the bathroom wearing his cosiest pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, his hair still mostly damp, to find his boyfriend sat on the end of their bed with a scowl and bright red eyes that could only be from crying. Richie quickly ran over, scooping Eddie into his arms.

“Hey, baby, what’s wrong?” Richie asked, stroking Eddie’s cheek. Eddie narrowed his eyes tightly and pushed Richie away, holding up Jack’s present. Richie’s eyes went wide and he blinked at Eddie in surprise.

“The only Jack you’ve ever talked about is your ex-boyfriend.” Eddie said quietly. Eddie was struggling; he’d taken a while to open up to Richie and see him as anything other than just someone who wanted to sleep with him. He trusted Richie but it was definitely weird for him to buy his ex a present, especially when he’d only ever briefly mentioned this guy’s name. Eddie wasn’t sure what kind of relationship Richie and Jack had, whether it was casual or whether they’d dated for a while.

“He’s my best friend too.” Richie said, carefully. He took the present back off Eddie and placed it back into the suitcase.

Eddie watched him do it, knowing that he was reaching the end of his already very short temper but he tried to control himself, making his voice calmer than he felt. “You’ve never even told me anything about your relationship. Did you date for a long time?”

Richie hummed quietly. There was distance between them on the bed now and both of them hated it, whenever they were sat near each other they were always tangled up in each other, holding hands or crossed legs, making Stan and Bill laugh at them.

“We dated for like most of high school, I guess. He moved to my school freshman year and we both kind of had crushes on each other for a while but then he kissed me at the end of year carnival and we were just together after that.” Richie had his arms crossed gently over his chest, peering down at Eddie through his glasses with a soft expression. Eddie wasn’t sure whether the soft expression was for him or whether it was for the memory of Jack.

“Why did you break up?”

Richie hummed again and the pause made Eddie nervous.

“I got into college here and he stayed home. He wanted to do long distance but I just didn’t see how it could work.” Richie said, still looking intently at Eddie.

Eddie’s heart sank even further. Richie and his ex-boyfriend had only broken up because of distance, that wasn’t a real reason to break-up, that could mean they still loved each other. Eddie imagined their heart-felt reunions when Richie was home from college and he’d wrap this other guy up in his long arms and hold him the way he holds Eddie.

Richie reached over and started stroking Eddie’s face again. Eddie softened into the touch.

“We’re still friends and I bought him a Christmas gift. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d get the wrong idea but I have no feelings for him anymore, we were just close for so long. Like if Stanley and Bill broke up then they’d still buy each other gifts, right?”

That was definitely not the right thing to say. Eddie stood up so quickly that he nearly fell over, glaring down at his boyfriend with a fierce intensity.

“Did you just really compare your relationship with your ex and our best friends, who are like the steadiest couple in the world?” Eddie practically screamed, pure frustration apparent on his face.

Richie opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

“This guy is clearly going to still be in love with you, Richie and he’s going to look at you all softly and we all know you’re a sucker for a soft look and he’s going to give you some proposition and it’ll be Christmas and everything will be twinkly and cute and you won’t be able to say no.” Eddie rambled, anger in his voice.

“That was oddly specific, Eds.” Richie tilted his head to look at his boyfriend.

“That was just an example of what might happen.” Eddie snapped. “Anyway, I can’t deal with this. You just can’t go see him, you can’t.”

It was Richie’s turn to stand up, his eyes still all wide and surprised. “What do you mean I can’t?”

Eddie scoffed. “I mean, I’m your boyfriend and I don’t feel comfortable with you being around this guy so you can’t go see him.”

Richie shook his head, his hair bouncing around him. “No offence, Eds but that’s really not your decision.”

Eddie growled in anger. Richie took a step back, Eddie really did scare him when he was angry.

“Fine, go and see him then.” Eddie said, staring right into Richie’s eyes. It felt like a challenge and Richie’s fear level went up.

“Okay.”

“Just don’t come back.” Eddie practically spat at Richie, before turning and trying to walk off. Richie grabbed his arm and turned him back around so that they were facing each other again. There was a pained look on Richie’s face.

“Don’t say things that you don’t mean, Eds.” He said gently and Eddie seemed to immediately deflate in his arms. He knew that Eddie didn’t really want him to not come back, they loved each other a lot and Eddie tended to fly off the handle but his words still hurt Richie.

Eddie looked at Richie and it was a lot rawer than most of the looks he gave him, it was just pure emotion.

“Please don’t leave me.” Eddie said, looking at Richie sadly as if he half expected Richie to just disappear. Richie sighed; he was really mad at Eddie. It was hard not to be mad at someone when they constantly flipped at you and then always took it back and expected you just to get over it. But the way Eddie was looking at him made him just want to grab onto him and not let go.

Richie forced himself to let go of Eddie though. He walked over to his suitcase, zipped it close and dragged it off the bed. He grabbed his boots and stuffed his feet into them, not even bothering to lace them up.

Eddie was crying again now, his small body shaking with silent sobs. He’d never felt like the world was ending as much as he did right then, thinking that Richie was leaving him. “Please, Richie.”

Richie pulled him into his long arms, pressing a light kiss to the top of his head. “Baby, I’m not breaking up with you. I love you _more than anything_.” He reached down and touched the heart pendant over Eddie’s heart. “And that means that you’re in charge of my heart and when you say things like that every time that you’re mad, it really hurts me. It’s like you think our relationship is just something you can throw away easily and it’s not like that for me.”

Eddie grasped Richie’s hoodie, burrowing his head further into his boyfriend’s shoulder. “I don’t ever mean it, I’d rather die than lose you.” Eddie sobbed, his voice muffled slightly by the material but not enough that Richie can’t hear him.

Richie stroked one of his hands through the soft hair at the nape of Eddie’s neck. “Well, it’s a good job you’re not going to lose me, isn’t it? All I want is for you to just think before you snap.”

Eddie nodded against Richie’s chest.

Richie uncurled his arms and took a step back, releasing himself from Eddie’s grip. He put his hand on the handle of his suitcase instead.

“I thought that your flight wasn’t until the morning?” Eddie asked, his voice quiet and still tear-filled.

“I’m going to go crash at Stan and Bill’s, I just can’t be here tonight.” Richie said, giving his boyfriend a small smile. “And before you freak out, I’m not breaking up with you, I love you but this requires a longer conversation than I don’t have the energy for right now. I’ll text you when I land.” And with that, Richie left the room, their apartment door slamming not long after, leaving Eddie to cry all alone in bed.

-

Two weeks later and Eddie hovered nervously outside his apartment door. He knew that Richie had got in late last night and would probably still be asleep but Eddie was still worried about seeing his boyfriend for the first time since their fight. They’d texted a lot and spoken on the phone a few times but Richie had seemed more reserved than he usually did, using fewer pet names than normal and making Eddie’s heart ache.

Eddie put his key in the lock and pushed the door open, trying to be as quiet as possible. He didn’t want to wake Richie up because he could be so irritable when he just woke up and that was no way for them to reconcile after so long.

He shouldn’t have been worried though for the second that Eddie stepped into the living room, lanky arms were pulling him tightly in and Richie was pressing feather light kisses to every part of his face. Eddie giggled, loving the affection and the attention when he’d been pining for Richie for weeks.

“I am so sorry, baby, I cannot believe that I just walked out like that.” Richie said, squeezing Eddie so tight like he was afraid he’d just fade away. “I’ve been so scared that you just weren’t going to come back to me.”

Eddie shook his head quickly. “I will _always_ come back to you. Since we’ve been together, you’ve helped me become a much better person but I still have issues, especially with my anger and I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m going to try so hard to stop myself, I can’t lose you.”

Richie nuzzled his nose into the crook of Eddie’s neck, loving the soft skin there. “I can’t lose you either.”

After that fight, Eddie learned how to control his temper around Richie, knowing that he had the ability to hurt his boyfriend in ways he would never choose to. They grew closer after that, barely even arguing and turning into one of those sickly sweet couples that everyone laughs at but secretly envies.

SENIOR YEAR

When Eddie told Stanley that either he or Bill could stay on their couch while they sorted things out, he expected it to be for a couple of days, maybe a week at most, because Bill and Stan were the most solid couple anyone knew and they were obviously going to sort themselves out _quickly._

The last thing they’d expected was for Bill to still be living on their couch, a month after that fateful night where Bill had kissed someone else. Eddie and Richie didn’t really mind having him stay, he was Eddie’s best friend after all but it did make finding private time a little harder. They supposed that it was kind of like what it would be like when they had a child, except this particular child was 22 and would wander into their bedroom whenever he couldn’t find any snacks in the cupboard.

Bill was living up to the heart-broken stereotype, practically living in sweats, never brushing his hair and eating way more junk food than was healthy. Eddie and Richie felt badly for him, he clearly missed Stanley a lot and both of them understood his pain, they’d want to do similar if they ever broke-up. Or ‘on a break’ as Bill reminded them every time that they tried to question him about trying to move on.

Stanley, on the other hand, was doing much better. He missed Bill so much it hurt but the space had given him a whole new perspective on life. He’d started going to the gym on campus, knowing that normally in the baseball off season he tended to lose his fitness. Now, he had new muscles on almost every part of his body to the point where he had to buy a whole new wardrobe because none of his pants fit over his thighs anymore. He knew he looked better than he had in years and every time he looked at himself in the mirror, he just imagined how Bill would react to his new body. Stanley had also gotten a drastic hair-cut just after the ‘not a break-up’, getting his hair buzzed so short that there was no evidence of any curl at all. Stan had cried when he’d first looked into the mirror but he’d grown used to it now, especially now that there was a little bit of growth. It was still _different_ but sometimes different could be good. He’d even been on a few dates with a couple of people, including Chris, his friend from Econ class freshman year. Stan enjoyed the thrill of dating, something he’d never got to experience because he’d always been with Bill.

Richie and Eddie felt like they were children of divorce, spending some weekends with Stanley and some with Bill. They obviously ended up spending more time with Bill because of sheer proximity but that didn’t mean they were on Bill’s side- they were still really mad at him for what he’d done to Stanley but they also felt really bad for him. Stanley was out there living his best life while Bill just seemed to be stuck in this post-break up phase of not wanting to anything.

“Hey, Billy.” Eddie said, walking into his apartment after one of the nights he and Richie had spent with Stanley. They’d gone over to his apartment and drank wine and played games. Chris had been there too, playing on Stan’s team and kissing him gently on the cheek when they won, his hand on Stanley’s thigh. Eddie and Richie had watched this with wide eyes and cornered Stan while Chris was in the bathroom but typical Stanley had just rolled his eyes and said that he was allowed to date people. Stanley didn’t have to see Bill cry every night though; maybe if he did, he wouldn’t have been so nonchalant about it.

“How is he?” Bill said, immediately sitting up and staring at Eddie and Richie. They looked at each other, a silent conversation going on between them. They knew they had to tell Bill that Stanley was dating, if only to spur Bill on to get off their couch and do something other than mope. Stan’s whole reason for their break was so that they could learn to live individual lives yet Bill’s life seemed to stop the moment he left their apartment.

Eddie and Richie took a seat on either side of Bill, Eddie stroking his hair, the way he knew reminded him of Stanley and calmed him down and Richie rested a hand on his shoulder.

“W-what is it?” Bill said, a brief remnant of a childhood stutter present in his voice, one that he’d told them only came out when he was least expecting it.

Richie and Eddie looked at each other again, sad grimaces on their faces and they couldn’t help but think about if the situation was reversed and they were the ones who weren’t together. Apart from that one brief moment the year before, Richie and Eddie had known that they were going to be together forever from pretty much the moment that Eddie finally broke down and asked Richie to be his boyfriend on their fourth date. They fit into each other’s lives with an ease that most couples couldn’t manage and had even met each other’s parents- Maggie and Wentworth Tozier had loved Eddie on sight and Maggie rang him often just to ask him how he was doing, however, Sonia Kaspbrak had despised Richie from the second he had stepped into her house, calling him dirty and immoral to the point where they both walked out and haven’t spoken to her since. Eddie did miss his mother, she was his only living relative but he got over it because in Richie and the Toziers, he finally had the family he’d always dreamed of.

“There’s something we need to tell you and you have to promise not to freak out.” Eddie said carefully, his mind thinking back to the time when he’d found Bill sobbing on the living room floor because he’d seen a photo of Stanley’s haircut and was mourning the loss of the ‘little curlies’ as he’d referred to them. And that was just hair, Eddie couldn’t imagine how he’d react to this.

“I’ll try my best.” Bill said, chewing on his lip with a solemn expression. Richie’s heart just about broke for the guy. Richie knew that this whole break was kind of his fault and he knew that it was doing Stanley a world of good for the future but watching Bill slowly self-destruct was hard. Richie wasn’t the most put together person himself, often having to be told to shower by Eddie because he simply forgot but Bill had gotten to a much worse state. His normally neatly cropped hair was too long and sticking up everywhere and he hadn’t shaved in about a week, tufts of ginger hair peeking out of his chin. Richie just wanted to throw a razor at him at this point, it was not a good luck for him and he would never win Stanley back looking like this.

“Stanley’s dating again.” Eddie said softly, watching his best friend’s face carefully. At first it looked like Bill hadn’t heard what Eddie said, his face remaining exactly the same as before but his mouth quickly turned down.

“Oh.” Bill said plainly.

Eddie continued to stroke circles on the top of Bill’s head, hoping that he could offer some comfort along with his words. He knew that Bill was suffering and he hated seeing him look like this, like even leaving the apartment was too much.

“He had a guy over for game night. We-uh told him that we didn’t think that was appropriate since it was _our_ thing but…” Richie trailed off, shrugging. Eddie was so much better at this than he was.

“It was Chris, wasn’t it?” Bill said, his voice flat.

Eddie and Richie looked at each other again with wide eyes. They didn’t know the history with Chris and how he’d clearly wanted Stanley for years and how much more it hurt that he was the guy Stanley chose to move on with. Bill thought he could deal with Stan dating a few different guys, maybe making a Tinder profile for the thrill but the fact that he’s chosen to date the one guy who has shown him the most interest in years felt like someone was stabbing at Bill’s heart.

Richie and Eddie nodded, about to speak again when Bill shot off the couch.

“I’ve got to go.” He said, grabbing his backpack off the floor from where he’d dumped it out of class and running out of the door before his friends could speak again.

Eddie and Richie looked at each other.

“Do you think he’s going to go and beg Stanley to take him back?” Richie said with a wince, imagining how badly that would go down. Stan was explicit with the fact that he would contact Bill when he was ready and Bill should give him space.

Eddie shook his head. “Nah, he’s sad, not stupid. He’s probably just going to get really drunk and stumble back in at some point.”

Richie looked at the clock on the wall, it was only 11pm. They had plenty of time before any bars closed and Bill would be back. He stretched out so that he was leaning towards Eddie, a small smirk on his face.

“Wanna have sex while he’s out?”

Eddie grabbed Richie’s arm, pulling him in the direction of their bedroom. “Thank God, I thought you’d never ask and you _know_ that red wine makes me horny.”

Bill didn’t go to beg Stanley to take him back but he also didn’t go to a bar and get drunk. Instead, Bill found a 24 hour barber shop and got his hair cut back into its usual neat style, paying way more than standard price but feeling so much better afterwards. He walked back past the big supermarket and went in to buy a pack of cheap razors, heading back to Richie and Eddie’s apartment and cleanly shaving his face. Bill fell asleep on the couch feeling like a whole different person than the one he’d been the last few weeks. He knew now that moping wasn’t the answer, he had to just continue living even if that life was without Stanley.

Richie and Eddie announced the next day that they were going to throw a New Year’s Eve party for all their friends and people they knew on campus. It was set to be a big thing and by the next week a lot of people had confirmed to be there, cutting short their winter breaks at home to come celebrate one final time at college. They’d discussed it of course, but they knew there was no way that they couldn’t invite both Bill and Stanley and told the boys as such, they both confirmed attendance and Eddie thought maybe with a few drinks and a little New Years magic, this could be the thing that fixes them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next bit is the party mentioned at the end of this and it's a mix of both couples.

**Author's Note:**

> Junior and Senior years coming soon
> 
> Title from Like Real People Do by Hozier https://youtu.be/yrleydRwWms


End file.
